


the hairclip

by hyacinthis



Category: Bloodborne (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Fishing Hamlet, Gen, Heavy Angst, Hunter’s Workshop, Hurt No Comfort, Old Hunter’s Workshop, healing church, no happy ending, research hall, uhhh ig gehrmaria if you squint but i didn’t write it with gehrmaria in mind lmaoo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-14
Updated: 2018-11-14
Packaged: 2019-08-23 11:43:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16618340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hyacinthis/pseuds/hyacinthis
Summary: “Will we ever see you again?”Maria goes silent for a long moment and Gehrman grows more concerned. He knows what’s coming, but he doesn’t want to hear it come out of her mouth. He doesn’t want her silky voice to say what he knows she’s going to say.“No, Gehrman. As of today, I’m renouncing my status as a hunter. I will have nothing to do with this godforsaken hunt ever again.”





	the hairclip

“Laurence told me to come speak to you.”

“I’m sure he did.” Her tone is cold, but that isn’t all that unusual.

“He said that you needed some sense talked into you.”

“I’m sure he did.”

“What’s going on, Maria?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” She grumbles.

Gehrman leans himself against the doorway, staring at her for a moment. She’s moving quickly, her shoulders are tense. Laurence didn’t give him the run down of what was going on, but he was fuming when he ran into him.

_“She is the only one who will listen to you!”_ He had said. _“Talk some sense into her, she’s gone mad!”_

“Talk to me.” Gehrman says, pushing himself off of the doorway. “What’s happening?”

Maria stops her movements and inhales slowly. She pushes champagne colored hair from her face and closes her eyes for a moment. He hates these tense moments, but sometimes they can’t be helped. He does what he can to prevent them, but Laurence and Maria have always butted heads and Gehrman has always been there to clean up the mess.

“Gehrman, please,” she says, softly. “I don’t want this to be any harder than it already is.”

“What do you mean?” 

She turns to look at him, looking vaguely betrayed. She has bags under her eyes and Gehrman can tell something major is happening in her mind. Something is hurting her.

“Why didn’t you tell me that we were going to the Hamlet to slaughter innocent people?” Maria asks quietly.

Gehrman blinks and then scoffs, crossing his arms over his chest. He swallows and shakes his head. This wasn’t really the conversation he wanted to have.

“Maria, it had to be done.”

“Did it?” She responds sharply. “Because to my knowledge, the people of the Hamlet did nothing wrong.”

“We needed the information they were harvesting.”

“But we didn’t have to murder countless people for it!”

“How else would we have gone about it?”

“I… Surely there was another way we could have gotten it!”

“Why does this even matter, Maria? They’re dead and gone, you shouldn’t feel too bad.”

“Because…” Maria stops, inhaling slowly. “Because she won’t leave me be.”

Gehrman furrows his brow. “What?”

“She’s haunting me, she knows what I-” She pauses. “What _we_ did. She’s punishing me.”

“Who is?”

“Mother Kos!” Maria cries, throwing her arms up furiously.

“Kos is dead.”

“Do you think I don’t know that? Of course she’s dead, _we_ killed her! And she won’t let me rest until I atone for it!”

Gehrman slowly strides over to her and sits her down, sitting across from her. He scans her tired face and clicks his tongue sympathetically. He reaches out, taking one of her cold hands into his calloused ones

“I think you just need rest, my dear.” He says quietly. “Why don’t you lay down? I’ll sit right here next to you.”

“No, Gehrman.” She says, pulling her hand away. “I’ve tried everything; supplements, medicines, herbs, oils, sedatives, _everything!_ I can’t get her out of my mind!”

Gehrman’s eyes graze over her cluttered bed. He pauses when his eyes fall upon an old leather sack. The same one Maria arrived with so long ago.

“Are you going somewhere?” He asks. 

“Yes, actually.” Maria answers, almost conversationally.

“Back to Cainhurst?” 

Maria gives him a bitter look, then stands. She shoves a couple of things into the leather sack then closes it. She slings it over her shoulder and starts to walk towards the door. Gehrman’s eyebrows furrow and he stands.

“Would you at least answer my question?”

“I’m sure _Laurence_ already told you. Since you two seem to be so close.” She hisses, her voice pure venom.

“All Laurence told me was that you were upset. Nothing more.”

“I’m leaving, Gehrman.”

He blinks for a moment. This isn’t a surprise. Many hunters leave to clear their minds and return when they see fit to join the hunt again. Sometimes a break is necessary, even if if inconveniences others. 

“For how long?” He asks.

“For good. I’m not coming back.”

“Maria,” he says through a breathy laugh. “You can’t be serious. We _need_ you here.”

“I have to go. I can’t stay here with such… Morally corrupt people. I’ve gone too far myself and I want to right my wrongs.”

“Are you still going on about Kos? Maria, I’ve told you, you just need some rest. A few drinks of whiskey and a warm bed will have you feeling better in no time.”

“Do you even feel remorse for what happened?!” Maria suddenly shouts, turning to look at him. “Do you even care that we _killed_ countless women and children?! Do you care that we _murdered_ their God and her unborn child?! None of you do! You don’t, Laurence doesn’t, Ludwig doesn’t! It’s all just some… Some sick game for you! Some twisted adventure for you to embark on! Well, I can’t do it anymore, Gehrman! I can’t sit here and let myself become so morally corrupt! I can’t idly stand by and continue to let these acts of cruel violence happen! I can’t!”

Gehrman stares at Maria for a long time, his breath caught in his throat. He stares at her and it hurts his heart to see tears fill her eyes. He can’t argue with her. As badly as he wants to disagree, she’s right. What they did was wrong.

“I’m sorry you feel that way, Maria.” He says.

Maria gives him a cold look and shakes her head. She starts to leave when he stops her again, out of sheer concern. 

“Where will you go?” He asks.

“Somewhere I can be helpful. Somewhere I can give back to.”

“Will we ever see you again?”

Maria goes silent for a long moment and Gehrman grows more concerned. He knows what’s coming, but he doesn’t want to hear it come out of her mouth. He doesn’t want her silky voice to say what he _knows_ she’s going to say.

“No, Gehrman. As of today, I’m renouncing my status as a hunter. I will have nothing to do with this godforsaken hunt ever again.”

“Maria I…”

“Don’t.” She says, turning on her heel again. “Don’t ask me to stay, I’m not going to. I’ve made my peace with what I must do and so should you. If you happen to come around to the idea of leaving, feel free to seek me out. But, otherwise, I want nothing to do with hunters. And I will _not_ tolerate them.”

“I wish you would stay. Just think about this for a little while longer.”

Maria doesn’t answer, just begins to walk away.

“You’re not thinking, Maria. You’ve been overworked, you just need some rest.”

He starts to follow her, she pays him no mind.

“Have you gone insane? You’re going to abandon all that we’ve made here?”

She pulls her bag further over her shoulder and keeps walking, moving towards the stone steps to take her away from the Healing Church cathedral. 

“Maria, don’t go.” He says, vulnerable. “Maria, _please_. If anything were to happen to you I would-”

“Goodbye, Gehrman.” Maria interrupts. “Thank you for all that you’ve done for me, but I can’t stay here. Please find it in your heart to understand my position.”

Gehrman watches her walk away into the fog. He wants to run after her, grab her by the shoulders, and demand that she stop this nonsense. But there’s no stopping her. She’s a woman on a warpath and she knows it. There’s nothing he can do.

When evening falls, they’re far apart from each other. Gehrman hates the change but Maria doesn’t seem to notice as she sets up a makeshift grave for Mother Kos. She’s on a path to redemption.

That night, Maria finally finds herself a home in the Research Hall, taking care of sickly patients left and right, turning into the gaurdian angel they long for. That night, at the hunter’s workshop, Gehrman sobs into the early hours of the morning into all that Maria left him.

An old hair clip, from her childhood days in Cainhurst.

**Author's Note:**

> fjshdhdhdh i love maria but i hate writing things for bloodborne,,, it’s so hard trying to capture the specific feelings i need to portray  
> anyways, i hope you enjoyed! please lmk what you thought in the comments!


End file.
